Amnesty International (AI) today accused Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group of systematic sexual violence as part of the civil war ravaging the African country.
In a report, the human rights group denounces the rape of at least 36 women and young women between April 2023 and October 2024.
"Women are not leading or participating in this war, but we are the ones who are suffering the most. I want the whole world to know about the suffering of Sudanese women and girls and I want all the evil men who raped us to be punished," said a survivor of sexual violence in Omdurman, a city near the capital Khartoum, quoted in the AI statement.
Through 30 interviews with survivors and family members living in refugee camps in Uganda, the non-governmental organization (NGO) documented that RSF soldiers "assaulted or gang-raped 36 women and girls as young as 15, in addition to other forms of sexual violence, in four Sudanese states" during the period analyzed.
“The world must act to end the RSF’s atrocities by stopping the flow of weapons into Sudan, pressuring its leaders to end sexual violence, and bringing those responsible, including senior commanders, to justice,” said AI’s regional director for human rights impact Deprose Muchena.
According to the NGO, the RSF is using sexual violence as a "tool to humiliate, control and displace communities across the country", which could constitute "war crimes and possible crimes against humanity", within the framework of the civil war that has already lasted two years in Sudan.
Furthermore, AI denounces that the "systematic use of sexual violence", combined with "many attacks occurring in the presence of other soldiers, victims and civilians, indicates that the perpetrators did not feel the need to hide the crimes or fear reprisals".
“The horror of sexual violence perpetrated by RSF is overwhelming, but the documented cases among refugees represent only a small fraction of the violations that could have been committed,” Muchena said.
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